The present invention relates to a light treatment apparatus for simulating a psychophysical borderline experience comprising a light emitting apparatus for emitting light perceivable by the human eye as well as a control apparatus for controlling the light emitting apparatus.
It is known that extreme psychophysical conditions can trigger physical and mental regeneration processes which result in a realignment of the total organism and make health directly experienceable. Such extreme psychophysical conditions occur, for example, during a near death experience, but also in high-performance sports or in deep meditation. Affected persons who have undergone such a borderline experience or a so-called “peak experience”, frequently report an acceleration experience or tunnel experience with a particularly bright light at the end.
Such psychophysical borderline experience is accompanied by perceptible and measurable therapeutic effects on different levels. On the one hand, the therapeutic effects can range on a psychological level from a clearly perceptible elevation of mood to a strong feeling of wellbeing and even to deep psychological relaxation. On the other hand, physiologically concrete changes can be measured which become visible, for example, in an EEG or are reflected in altered blood values.
Previous light treatment devices have been used for different therapeutic purposes. It is thus known, for example, to alter the serotonin level by light irradiation of a subject in order to eliminate sleep problems, to relieve sadness and to ameliorate depressions. A corresponding light treatment device is known, for example under the trade name “Davita Light Box PhysioLight LD 220” or is also described in a similar form in DE 20 2005 010124 U1. On the other hand, for example, daylight lamps are used for irradiation of subjects to compensate for light deficiencies in winter and to relieve winter depressions.
Such devices are, however, all not suitable to induce psychophysical borderline experiences of the named kind which combine deep psychological therapeutic effects with physical therapeutic effects in the named manner.